It has long been recognized that a double deck bus would have certain advantages over a single deck bus, one of the principal advantages being the substantial increase in seating capacity of such a bus. However, when a double deck bus is designed with full headroom throughout both decks, the vehicle is apt to be top heavy, and of a height which prevents it from operating on certain routes with low overhead clearance.
It is not broadly new to provide a double deck bus with less than full standing headroom on the upper deck, and with a recessed or channel passageway extending lengthwise of the upper deck, said passageway being of a depth to provide full standing headroom therein, as shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,029,102 and 2,173,727. None of the known prior patents, however, either disclose or suggest any of several novel features of the present invention, which features include: the driver's elevated location with ability to monitor the fare box with passengers boarding through a single entrance and going to both the upper and lower decks; the easy, rearward flow-through of traffic along the laterally offset passageways of both decks, with separate exits for the passengers of each deck, and the equalized weight distribution with a loaded bus.